Details from IMDB:
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Miles Morales catapults across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. When the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles must redefine what it means to be a hero.
Initial Thoughts:
I’ve loved Spider-Man almost my whole life. I used to watch the terrible (but hilarious!) cartoon from the 70s (it ended in 1970 but I didn’t know that when I was young, if want real campy fun check it out!) and started reading the comics when I was around 12. I think that while Sony has had some missteps, they have recently done an excellent job with the webhead and I loved part 1, suffice it to say I was excited to finally see part two after a long 5-year wait.
Main Points:
This movie is a TON of fun! If you’re a Spidey fan it really is a treat. I thought all of the voice work was excellent, the story is top-notch, and even at 2 hours 20 minutes it goes by really fast, I never felt bored and was sad when it ended. We really get to see a LOT of the different spider-men/women/creatures and this is a great thing as we get to see different cultures/beliefs/races represented and celebrated. Miles Morales is a great character and even though it’s taken 12 years, it’s great to see him get more recognition.
This movie is very fast-paced/modern/hip and I’ll say that certainly it makes me feel older, which is natural as I’m not the primary audience the film is aimed at. I quite liked the main villain and of course, the cameos (both real-life and animated) were all delightful. I think I only have two real gripes. One of them is something that perhaps is going to become more common in our video-game age. Video games have caught up with animated movies/TV/programs, in fact, I’d say lots of video game cut scenes are as good or better than a lot of animated movies. As such I couldn’t help but notice that many times during the movie when the focus is on one character, the background was blurry, it becomes distracting the more times it happens. It also occurred to me that this movie would have looked better in IMAX 3D, rather than just IMAX, I’m not sure why it was not presented this way. Both of these gripes are minor though and overall I loved this movie and had a great time watching it.
From the comics I’ve read I think they are capturing Miles Morales PERFECTLY onscreen and this is one of the ways this movie really shines. This is truly a celebration of Marvel (and more specifically) Spider-Man comics. There are lots of scenes that are taken right from the comics and I LOVED that they would show a certain issue connected with a scene and character, as I’ve heard critics say if you want a TON of Spider-Men and comic book references/connections you get them and they all made me smile.
Final Thoughts:
I could go on more about this movie but I am making an effort to keep these reviews shorter, so I’ll finish up. As I stated before while this is aimed at people 10-14, I got lots of enjoyment out of it (I just turned 47) and would give it a strong recommendation. A healthy 8.5 out of 10 from me. Please don’t bring young kids to this, depending on your child’s maturity I would say ages 9+, when I saw it the kids were all good, one small girl just couldn’t concentrate on a movie for almost 2.5 hours, which is completely understandable. Spider-Man is in good hands with Sony and I look forward to what they do next and of course part 3 in March of ’24! Worth noting is that there are no mid-credit or post-credit scenes here, though the credits are a lot of fun to watch if you’re not in a rush.